I don’t know about you, but when 3pm comes around I need a sweet treat. My blood sugar is heading downward and when I’m not home the convenience of the vending machine calls my name. If I’m not prepared I will easily fork over 75¢ in exchange for an indulgent snack that will only temporarily satisfy.

When my schedule gets crazy, which let’s be honest is all the time, I can grab these peanut butter chia energy bites before I leave in the morning and they’ll keep fresh all day. So let’s talk snacks and the occasional emotional rollercoasters that can occur in the kitchen.

Yesterday was Sunday. I woke up with an endless list of school related tasks that I needed to accomplish. After church, I planned to grab a quick bite to eat, get in a quick workout, and then chain myself to my desk until all of the information in my Mental Health Nursing book seeped into my brain and out my ears. An envy-worthy day, really.

After I ate lunch an idea popped into my head.

“What if I don’t study.”

(Gasp) This idea was far too tempting to ignore. Now, before you go all “mom” on me let me assure you that my exam for this class is still eight days away. I think I can spare one day without opening that textbook. With school off the table I headed to the kitchen. I opened a few cupboards and took a mental inventory. Next I went to the fridge where I found six pounds of butter staring at me. Yes, we buy butter in absurdly large quantities. Don’t judge. So, I decided on a more specific direction: cookies! I checked the baking cupboard only to find we were out of chocolate chips, which took my go-to cookie recipe off the table. Oatmeal-raisin cookies? Unfortunately, there were raisins, but not enough to actually make anything.

Maybe I didn’t have to make cookies. Maybe I could make something that I actually had the ingredients for. A recipe I had started to make regularly jumped to the forefront of my mind: Peanut butter energy bites! Although these didn’t fall along the cookie path that I was heading they would be the perfect treat to have on hand for the upcoming week. An added bonus: they’re healthy! The only items I needed to locate were the oats, chia, honey, and peanut butter. Oats: check. Chia and honey: check, check, check! I also found a few dove dark chocolate hiding in the pantry. Score!

Peanut butter was the last item that remained. I opened the cupboard and lifted the jar only to be disappointed in it’s lightness. Even scraping the sides would not have produced enough peanut butter for this recipe. In fact I have no idea why anyone put the jar back in the cupboard. I tried to think of something else I could make with the remaining ingredients I had on hand, but I couldn’t. I was so determined to make those energy bites. I scoured the rest of the kitchen searching for something that was peanut-butter-like. Almond butter? None. Cashew butter? Nothing.

By this time I needed a break. So, I went to the snack cupboard and tried to spin the shelves to get an overview of my options. However, when I went to turn the lazy Susan it was stuck. Lazy Susans never seem to work for me (and printers, but for a different reason.) My first step to fixing the problem was to sigh and roll my eyes. Step two, reach my hand to the back. Step three, finally grab something and proceed to knock all the remaining items off the shelf. No big deal. Step four, celebrate. The box was full of my missing ingredient. The box contained nothing other than peanut butter to-go cups!

Okay, maybe I’m being overly dramatic. I will now proceed to make the peanut butter energy bites with less drama.

Actually, I can’t guarantee that.

Jenna

P.S. This is obviously my first post and I already acknowledge I will be embarrassed about it 3 years from now, but I am so grateful to you for reading. I am hopeful that as my blog develops you will hang with me. Comment your heart away. <3

Peanut Butter and Chia Energy Bites

1 cup oats

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons chia seeds

Drizzle

¼ cup chocolate chips*

1/2 teaspoon oil

Place a piece of wax paper on a medium sized baking sheet. Add oats, creamy peanut butter, honey, and chia seeds to a medium bowl and combine. Form the mixture into bite sized pieces and place on wax paper. In a microwavable dish combine the chocolate and oil and microwave for about 1 minute. Stop, stir, and continue to microwave in 20-second intervals until chocolate is fully melted. Once chocolate is melted drizzle it over the energy bites. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for about an hour or until the chocolate has hardened. Remove the bites from the freezer and put them in an airtight container. I recommend putting half in the fridge and half in the freezer.

Hey there! I'm Jenna and I love sharing my passion for nutrition with others! Here you'll find recipes and words that I hope inspire you to live your best life and find a healthy relationship with food. Pour yourself a cup of coffee and take a look around. I'm certain we're about to be friends.